Mercury droplet microswitch for re-configurable circuit interconnect

With electrostatic actuation, mercury droplets can act as moving and contact parts in a microswitch system. The physical stability of droplets in microscale and the low contact resistance between liquid and solid make the mercury switch an excellent candidate for the re-configurable circuit interconnect. Unlike previous micro-droplet switches, this paper reports, for the first time, a planar design and fabrication be compatible with underlying CMOS circuits. The driving voltage of the device is reduced from more than 150 V to around 80 V by surface modification technology. The response time for the switching is less than 1ms.